Jayalalithaa fixes Jan 20 for fishermen-level talks with Lanka

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday said her government will extend all help to the Centre to facilitate talks between Indian fishermen and their Sri Lankan counterparts in Chennai on January 20, 2014 to resolve the dispute over fishing rights in each other's territorial waters. She asked the Centre to reciprocate in a favorable manner. The frequent arrests of Tamil fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy for maritime violations have been a bone of contention between the Centre and the state and have also threatened to strain Indo-Lanka relations.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the chief minister wanted the Centre to take firm steps to seek the release of fishermen from the state arrested by the Lankan navy. "In view of the sentiments and desire of the fishermen associations of Tamil Nadu to have talks with their counterparts in Sri Lanka, and in the interest of keeping a channel of communication open, the state government has already proposed that arrangements may be made to have the next round of talks in Chennai on January 20, 2014," Jayalalithaa said. While her letter does not indicate whether the Sri Lankan government would be agreeable to such a date and venue, official sources said the fishermen federation there had given its consent after confirming with the fisheries ministry of the island nation.

The agenda and the list of participants for the meeting have already been sent to the Union government. "It has been reported in the media that the Centre is agreeable to the date. However, we are awaiting a formal confirmation from them," the chief minister said. Detailing various incidents of fishermen being apprehended by the Lankan Navy, the chief minister said, "The right of livelihood of our fishermen to fish in their traditional waters of the Palk Bay to which they have a historic claim is being infringed upon repeatedly by Sri Lanka." She blamed the Centre for ceding the Kachchateevu islet to Sri Lanka.

Jayalalithaaa said in her letter to the PM on December 20, she had stated that while the non-conducive atmosphere created by the actions of the Sri Lankan government continues, TN fishermen, in an accommodative frame of mind, were eager to sort out the day-to-day issues faced by them by engaging in talks. "Even though the situation is tense in the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu because of the continued imprisonment of our fishermen, their associations have represented to the state government to facilitate the bilateral fishermen-level talks and they requested me to fix the venue and time for such a meeting," she said in the letter.

Expressing her anguish on 'the unethical, illegal and inhuman' arrest of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy, Jayalalithaa urged the PM to intervene in the issue and secure their release. She charged the Lankan navy with carrying out 'unabated, brutal, unprovoked attacks' and instances of opening of fire on 'innocent' fishermen from the state despite several joint statements and declarations by both governments against such actions.

Jayalalithaa said the Centre's 'meek and weak' response to the repeated instances of attacks on the fishermen in their traditional waters had emboldened the Sri Lankan navy. "I once again urge your personal intervention and exhort you to use the diplomatic channels in a concrete and decisive manner with the Sri Lankan authorities to secure the immediate release of 256 Indian fishermen who are languishing in Sri Lankan jails," Jayalalithaa said. The state government was awaiting a formal confirmation from the Union government on the proposed meeting between the fishermen communities of both India and Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, DMK president M Karunanidhi said he would announced a date for a state-wide protest by his party on the issue.

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